The other day I found a piece of paper that had been run over by car tires and ended up on the sidewalk. This is what the paper says, the beginning of a letter. It is titled: “What We & I Truly want In Our Life.” The body of the letter contains one bullet point: “You honestly need to know and understand that I Do Truly Love You & I Do want…” The letter ends there. It’s what scholars would call a fragment. Sparking my curiosity, I thought this could serve as a writing prompt for today’s sermon. It fits into Jesus’ words from the Gospel of John, addressing the disciples. Jesus tells the disciples they are his sheep. As the good shepherd, Jesus calls the sheep and they hear his voice. In a sense Jesus is saying, “You honestly need to know and understand that I Do Truly Love You & I Do want…” for the disciples to receive the kingdom of God.
Commentator Jennifer Garcia Bashaw reminds us that when Jesus tells the disciples they will receive eternal life and never perish, he’s talking about the quality of life in the world. Following Jesus includes walking into an unfolding reality of love and justice. It is not the duality of heaven and hell that is overlaid on this Biblical text later. It is an invitation into a way of life that includes increasing justice and equity in the world now.
There are different images evoked when we think about “kingdom of God.” There has been a focus on decolonizing imagery, describing it as the kin-dom of God or dominion of God that sounds less hierarchical. The language of royalty doesn’t necessarily evoke equity and justice. But sometimes names stick and some people take comfort in the “kingdom of God” which is also okay.
Reflecting on the dominion of God, this past week I had the privilege of attending a gathering at Loon Lake, BC, together with rostered leaders from across the BC Synod. This includes seminarians, deacons, pastors, assistants to the bishop, and the bishop of BC. It was an opportunity to remind ourselves we are all connected by the dominion of God. We are all part of the ministry of following Jesus, including all of you as lay people. Sometimes we forget the mutual support available to us as a wider church. This is especially true when we’re separated from the lower mainland by water, while others are further afield in Northern BC or the Interior. And others on the lower mainland are separate by busy schedules, long commutes, and the busyness of life. The reality is if we don’t take time to spend together, then it can just slip by.
This year one thing stood out was the format of the study conference. Pr. Erik Bjorgan of Salmon Arm is a proponent of Open Space, which some of us were introduced to at the recent synod gathering in Coquitlam called “One Body.” In place of a keynote speaker, Open Space, encourages colleagues to have conversations with one another about topics in ministry close to their heart. We are invited to consider leading a small group discussion, writing the topic on a sticky note, and placing it on a wall calendar stating when and where the conversation will take place. One of the best attended gatherings was around Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, facilitated by Pr. Aneeta Saroop, Assistant to the Bishop for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. We were invited to shared stories of a time in which we or others experienced inclusion. Respecting the confidentiality of all who participated in the conversation, I won’t share details others shared from the conversation. However, I may share a story I shared.
As many of you know I participate in a local running clinic with up to 300 participants per clinic. The pace group that shows the most inclusion are the Return to Run, Learn to Run, and generally the slower pace groups. These are led by leaders who know it can be a bit scary to join a running group. Perhaps they are self-conscious about their running ability, if they will be judged, if this is a space for them. At every long run I see these groups forming a large circle and leading one another in warm-up exercises. To be clear we all should be doing warm up exercises to avoid injury, but it is consistently the slower pace groups that overtly welcome people into this activity. The faster pace groups assume people can look after themselves for warm-up. All pace groups have a rule not to drop anyone or leave anyone behind, so it’s not Lord of the Flies, but I notice the extra care the slower groups show one another.
This care reminds me of the kind of care each of us seek in church spaces. I know some of our groups like Perk Me Up show this kind of care, celebrating birthdays and milestones. Even just the milestone of making it another week. And don’t get any false ideas about Perk Me Up. There is some engaging political conversation. They ask the big questions. Check them out one Tuesday, 10 AM in the rotunda, for elders and visitors are welcome. And beyond that I know we all seek connection, building relationships. We’re trying to address some of these needs in a time of transition. We’re building up ministries for kids and young families, for youth, for students, trying to do something for young adults, adults, and elders. Perhaps its the young adults and middle-aged who need a bit more attention, who tend to have busier schedules with work, school, travel, etc. Some things for us to consider as we enter the spring/summer period which is not as hectic as Fall through Easter Sunday.
And before I forget, I want to note how the Study Conference at Loon Lake was a time of building mutual support with seminarians, deacons, pastors, assistants to the bishops, and the bishop. As we wrapped up we had a listening circle. Overwhelmingly participants found the gathering to be uplifting, relationship renewing, and a reminder that we are sources of mutual trust. God is ushering in the dominion of God in our midst when we stop and listen. But we also take note of the trauma that others have experienced, just as we do in our individual lives. Whether that is trauma people have experienced as leaders of congregations, deaths in our lives, health issues, employment issues, mid-life crises, early or end of life crises, and the ennui of living in a time of great unrest and change. Together we have so much opportunity to support one another in the love of Christ. There are so many ways we are each witnessing the incoming dominion of God. Together we are sheep hearing Jesus’ voice, following to greener pastures of the in-breaking of the love of God.
Returning to the found letter: “You honestly need to know and understand that I Do Truly Love You & I Do want…” I choose to think of this as a love letter Jesus is writing to us, but he wasn’t able to finish it before it was whisked away by an ocean breeze. Know that the Jesus who calls our name desires us to be happy, engaged in mutual support of one another. Amen.
